


Graduation Speech by Puh-Schell

by EvilDime



Series: Graduation Speech [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animagus, Character Bashing, Dark Harry, Evil Dumbledore, Gen, Good Severus Snape, Humor, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 21:56:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3585474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilDime/pseuds/EvilDime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry tells Dumbledore and everyone else what he's *really* thinking...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part A - The Catalyst

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Abschlussrede](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/104274) by Puh-Schell. 



> Disclaimer: Neither I nor Puh-Schell, who wrote this fic, own Harry Potter or make any money with this story.  
> A/N: Not my own fic, I'm just translating... I did write a sequel to this one, though, which will be uploaded next. ^^ ("Snake Pit")

Today was the last day Harry would ever spend at Hogwarts. Today was the graduation ceremony for the seventh years. Today, Harry would leave Hogwarts and the school days he spent there behind for good.

Harry's school years had been exciting.

In his first year, an attempt had been made on his life and he had to prevent Voldemort from being resurrected.

In his second year, an attempt had been made on his life, he had to fight a basilisk and again prevent Voldemort's resurrection - this time in his 16-year-old form.

In his third year, an attempt had been made on his life, he had to keep a horde of dementors from stealing his soul, help his godfather who had been wrongfully accused of murder to escape, and run from a werewolf who really did not mean him any harm.

In his fourth year, he had to prevent the routine attempt on his life, was forced to participate in a deadly tournament, duel Voldemort who had finally managed to resurrect himself - wasn't he just such a stubborn Dark Lord? - and watch one of his schoolmates being murdered.

In his fifth year, he befriended Severus Snape, was taught the Dark Arts by that very man - without Dumbledore's or anyone else's knowledge or approval. And only, really, because he was heartily sick of all those attempts on his life. He was of the opinion that it should now be his turn to murder other people. Since apparently it was fine for everyone else to do it.

Meanwhile, however, Dumbledore was subjecting Harry to a "Special Training" against the Dark Arts which consisted of Harry being cursed with the _Cruciatus_ to heighten his "resistance" - which did prove somewhat useful when Harry had to rescue Severus from a trap laid for him at the end of the school year.

The year's bright spot was the fact that no attempts were made on Harry's life by anyone. Typical, he thought to himself. When he finally prepares for it, no one comes.

In his sixth year, Severus refused to work as a spy any longer, which would not have ended well anyway. Still, Dumbledore insisted, which found about as much favour with Severus as imagining Voldemort naked.

Draco Malfoy switched to the "right" side because Severus talked to him. Draco became another friend to Harry, causing Ron to feel slighted and give Harry the cold shoulder.

At the end of the school year, Harry killed Voldemort with a dark curse - Severus had continued to refuse to spy all year long. But thanks to Harry's dreams (nightmares, really), he still knew where to find Voldemort.

In his seventh and final year, this very year now, Harry stopped talking to just about everyone and quit the Quidditch team. Most of the girls were pining for him, which annoyed him to no end. Ginny kept trying to get together with him which annoyed him even more. Ron was still sulking, and now envious on top of that, and Hermione stuck by him on principle. After all, Harry was a hero and able to take care of himself.

The only people Harry talked to were his teachers, if they asked him a question, Severus, Draco, and some Slytherins. Since he spent the entire year studying hard, he passed the end of year exams at the top of his class. Not even Hermione did better. Thus, Harry had to hold the graduation speech as a representative for Gryffindor. One student from each House made a speech, and Harry's was scheduled last.

This very speech, Harry was about to begin in a few minutes. The Great Hall of Hogwarts was filled to bursting with seventh years, teachers and the students' parents.

Now it was his turn. Slowly, Harry approached the especially set-up pedestal, stepped up and looked at the crowd.

Harry had changed a lot over the years. No longer was he a tiny, bashful boy. He now measured a good 1,90 m and had a nice set of muscles. His green eyes had become even greener through his use of dark magic. Remus had joked during the last holidays that Harry had vampire eyes. Harry now wore nothing but black. The tips of his tousled hair were dyed green and silver - Slytherin's colours.

Draco sat at a table with an empty spot next to him where Harry had been sitting. His parents had been exposed as Death Eaters and taken to Azkaban. Some of the Slytherins shared Harry and Draco's table, those who had helped the two of them against Voldemort. Most of them no longer had parents, either.

Harry stood behind the magical microphone, as he personally referred to the gadget, and let his gaze sweep over the teacher's table. Severus's face wore a malicious expression since he knew what Harry was going to say.

Harry cleared his throat and began. His expression was friendly and sort of innocent. Severus, Draco, and Harry's Slytherin friends knew it was an act.

"Well, I am expected to make a speech, and I assume everyone expects me to do as the previous speakers have done and declare what a wonderful time I had here, which teachers helped me the most, and how I am now ready to pursue my further path through life."

Abruptly, Harry's expression changed. Dumbledore was rather taken aback. He had believed that Harry would, in his way, say exactly those things. Well, before giving Harry the right to make a public speech, they should have checked what he planned to say.

Harry's face was now filled with derision and bitterness. Everyone present - except those who knew what was going on - looked at him dumbly.

"Well then, let's consider my life...

"Throughout my school days, there was an evil wizard out for my blood. It has always been expected of me that I vanquish Voldemort. The _esteemed_ Mr. Dumbledore here even put his best powers of manipulation into play to hammer the message home that I had to defeat Voldemort.

"I have been alternately adored by brainless groupies, derided by enviers, or hated by Voldemort supporters. In short, my life so far has been  utter shit."

Those listening to this speech seemed in danger of having their eyes popping out, the way they were staring at Harry. Who ignored them completely and continued his speech. Severus, Draco, Pansy, Blaise and Zoltan - a Slytherin boy - were hard-pressed to keep in the laughter at the look on those faces. 

"The other speakers today have all uttered some 'highlight' or other of their time here. Well, let's see. What 'highlights' could I name?

"There was, of course, the basilisk in second year, whom I had to kill since Dumbledore was too lazy to do it. Oh please, as if a wizard of Dumbledore's calibre didn't know exactly  _what_ had been prowling his school. But did he do anything about it?  No, he needed a twelve-year-old boy to look after his school's safety. 

" Or how about my third year, when a few dementors nearly kissed me by mistake? What would have become of your oh-so-dear wizarding world if that had happened? I hope Voldemort would have fried you all. 

"Oh, but there's still fourth year and the Triwizard Tournament. Where there were set rules, which supposedly were never broken, but which in the end nobody cared about when my name came out of the goblet. How hard would it have been to only let the other three participate? You don't really want to claim that I actually had to participate?! Of course, that's what I was told back then, but I was fourteen at the time. Anyone in their right mind though should have seen that I quite easily could have been kept from participating. A responsible adult, for example."

Harry paused to exhale a deep breath. Then a nasty grin sneaked onto his face.

"But I do have a few very choice words for some people, before I am dragged from this pedestal and chased out of the Hall amidst jeers and catcalls.

"Minerva McGonagall. You really do have a talent for witchcraft, but as a head of house, you are supposed to also have a certain sensibility for your students' problems and, what is more, protect them. Your children are your _wards_. A head of house should not allow one of her students to be subjected to the _Cruciatus_ by another teacher.  McGonagall, you are about as sensible as Voldemort and should never again in your life be charged with children's welfare. You do not know what that is. 

"Sybill Trelawney. Every year, you once again "prophesy" my death. Doesn't that ever get boring? Or does it give you an orgasm? I will pity any students that have to suffer your class.

"Albus Dumbledore. You are a really insidious bloke, did you know that? Say, how does it feel if your own weapon turns against you? You know, if Voldemort hadn't kept pestering me with those nightmares, it would have been your task to kill him. Because I really wouldn't have seen any reason to off him. What do I care about the lives of several thousand idiots? But if you're constantly kept from a good night's sleep, it really wears on you."

By now, many people were whispering to each other, while others were in shock. And Severus was in serious danger of laughing out loud. Luckily, no one was looking at him.

"Seriously. I don't give a shit about any of you.  There is only a handful of people in this school I am able and willing to call friends. And I honestly have to say that I pity Severus. The poor man will have to stay here and teach. If I consider that he will one day have your children and relatives sitting in his classroom... oh dear. 

"Now I've said everything I meant to say. Ah no, there are two more things.  Everyone who believes, wants or desires  me to become an Auror, Quidditch player or Ministry worker, you may think again. Like I would do that to myself. I'd rather become Voldemort's successor. 

"And the second thing. Thanks for listening."

With these words Harry stepped off the pedestal, took the satchel hidden beside his seat, waited for Draco to retrieve his own bag and left the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

Severus Snape resigned the next morning.

 


	2. Part B - The Result

Harry let a furious hiss escape from between his teeth. How dare his so-called friends do this!

Molly Weasley. _Weasley._ Harry understood with sudden clarity how the Malfoys could so deeply despise that name.

Molly Weasley had gotten Severus Snape shipped to Azkaban. Because he supposedly "manipulated" "that poor boy". And of course the wizarding psychologists and pedagogues or whatever else those imbeciles might call themselves had supported her opinion. Dumbledore too, obviously, and the rest of Harry's "friends".

Sirius had been one of the first to want Severus brought to Azkaban. After all, the "Slytherin scumbag" had "seduced" his "innocent little godson" to switch to "the Dark side". Remus had agreed after some persuasion on Dumbledore's part.

Together with Molly Weasley, those three had gathered proof against Severus from his time with the Death Eaters and presented that proof to the Ministry. The outcome of that great idea: Severus Snape was nicked in Azkaban, Draco was on the run and Blaise and Zoltan under observation, being checked for sings of "dark manipulation", as well.

And Harry? Harry was in the ward for the mentally ill in St. Mungo's, the largest wizarding hospital of the Western world.

And he was mad. Spitting mad.

Those damn doctors hat stuck him into white hospital robes - white! When he hated that colour nearly as much as Gryffindor red! - and dragged him into this observation room. Everything was white, white, and white again and always ablaze with light. So they could constantly observe him.

In the last two days since he had been brought here he had just paced the room and looked at the floor. Like a caged animal. Harry's animagus forms rebelled against the treatment he suffered here. Severus had not only taught him how to control the dark arts, but also how to become an animagus. And to Severus and Harry's surprise, Harry had three forms: a black cobra, a black wolf and a black crow.

The wolf and the crow felt cramped in this room and the cobra hated the bright light. Harry's entire mind and body rebelled against this imprisonment and he was going to do something about it. Soon, very soon he would stop his pacing and simply tear the wall of this ghastly white room into a thousand little shreds...

With all the rage he felt, Harry let loose a mental scream - a feat of dark magic. The scream would pierce walls, spells and barriers and ring in the ears of everyone who was in its way, until the scream ran out of power and simply stopped flying on.

* * *

Draco started awake. So far, he had kept hidden in the vicinity of St. Mungo's, the place where Harry was held, and hoped to somehow get his friend out. He had only just lain down when that scream...

Harry. That scream was from Harry.

Draco sharply sucked in his breath when the point on his arm where Voldemort's Dark Mark used to be started to ache. The pain only lasted for a moment and soon receded. When Draco lifted up his dark green robe, the image of a black phoenix was emblazoned on his arm.

"I'm coming, Harry, I'm coming, and once I'm there..." Draco's grey eyes flashed in the darkness.

* * *

Miles away, on an island no wizard wanted to step foot on, Severus Snape startled from his concentration exercises. Until now, he managed to keep the dementors from further attacking his mind. Three cheers for the dark arts...

But his concentration had been broken. By whom? There had been a scream...

Severus noted in passing that the dementors drew back from his cell and made way. Whatever that scream had been, the dementors didn't like it.

And then Severus knew what was going on.

Harry. His Harry.

A deep growl escaped Severus's throat and he didn't even notice the stinging pain in his arm at first. When the stinging wouldn't stop, however, he carefully lifted his black prisoner's robe a little and regarded his arm.

The image of a black phoenix was clearly displayed on his arm.

"Like a phoenix from the ashes..." A tiny smile played around Severus's lips and he started laughing loudly.

"Oh, you sorry fools! I nearly pity you... Just wait for the new Lord to get here. Just wait..."

The dementors never approached Severus's cell again.

* * *

After his scream, several doctors had stormed in and given Harry a soporific. When he next woke, he was tied to a bed and spells ensured that he stayed on that bed. A brunette woman in a white coat stood next to him and looked at him with a mixture of pity and fear.

Harry didn't want the pity, but the  fear, he enjoyed...

"Harry. I am Dr. Kimbel and the two of us are going to have a little chat. First of all, are you lying comfortably? Or should I ask the nurses to reposition you?"

Harry tested the bonds and spells. They were not very strong, compared to his power, but he did not have his wand and wandless magic was always weaker than the regular kind...

Then Harry felt a presence in the building, a very familiar presence. Draco had come... He could be patient until Draco was here.

Harry looked around the room and did not pay the waiting woman any further attention. To his horror, everything was white. White. Couldn't they at least have added a little colour here and there against the boredom?

"Doctor..." he mumbled a bit hoarsely. Mrs. Kimbel straightened at once. "Yes, Harry?"

"Say, could you ask if they could give this room a different colour? I hate white, you know. It is so boring.... A little black, maybe?"

Kimbel did not seem very taken with the idea. "Harry, black isn't always a good solution. And I fear these walls cannot be painted. But, please tell me about your time at Hogwarts..."

The woman was a bloody rookie, Harry decided. Severus had taught him much better how to manipulate people through a conversation.

* * *

Draco glided down the halls and corridors of St. Mungo's like a snake looking for prey. In a way, that's what he was. The invisibility spells and glamours he had cast upon himself safely took him past the greatest barriers and wards. The real problem were the protective spells right in front of Harry's ward. Those were much more complex and advanced than the ones he had breezed past previously.

Breathing hard, Draco stood in front of the door to the high security ward for the mentally ill. The door was covered in runes and literally exuding magic.

_Time for a bit of Malfoy class dark magic_ , Draco thought to himself. He took cover behind the next corner, then discharged a long ritual incantation to summon a ghost. After a few minutes, he managed to summon a spirit and turned it loose on the hospital. 

Now St. Mungo's would have its own poltergeist just like Hogwarts.

Draco grinned while the hospital staff were madly running about, trying to get rid of the poltergeist. Distracted by the ghost, no one noticed Draco becoming visible and destroying the rune magic on the door. Quick as lightening he became invisible once more and slipped into the high security ward.

* * *

Harry had already stopped answering Kimbel's questions two minutes ago.  The woman was an amateur and easier to read than Neville. 

Harry felt Draco approaching and finally coming to a stop.  _Must be the door to the high security ward..._

Some ten minutes later, Harry felt Draco pass the door and wondered which method of distraction Draco might have chosen to break through the wards unnoticed. Not two minutes later, the door to his room flew open and Kimbel was struck by a full body-bind.

Draco's face appeared in Harry's field of vision. Draco grinned. "Need some help?"

"Ha ha."

Draco untied the bonds and broke the spells holding Harry in the bed.

"Now what?" Draco wanted to know.

"Now we'll collect Sev and then our friends will get to know a new kind of phoenix..."

Draco's grin widened.

* * *

_Five days later..._

The door of Severus's cell was flung open and Harry strutted in. Severus smiled and hugged him.

"Sorry Sev, couldn't make it any earlier." Harry stepped out of the hug and grinned. "And now to the Ministry, eh?"

Severus shook his head with a mean grin and said: "No, first we will take care of your esteemed **friends**."

"That's a good idea, too... we had better hurry. Draco and Blaise are keeping the corridor shielded and Pansy and Millicent are stationed at the exit. Zoltan is waiting in our hide-out."

"Got everything planned, huh?"

"Of course. Only the name is still giving us headaches."

"Oh really?"

The two of them strode from the cell and up the hallway. Draco and Blaise kept the way to the exit clear with  patronus after patronus. 

"Hm. I had suggested Feathers of the Black Phoenix as a name for my followers, but Draco says that's too bourgeois."

"Indeed. Before I refer to myself by such a name, I shall marry Gilderoy Lockheart."

Next to Harry, Draco spoke up: "How about the Black Snakes?"

Harry pondered for a moment. "Alright."

* * *

Watch out, people... there's a new Lord in this world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the fic by Puh-Schell ends. But she uttered a challenge to continue it, which led to me writing my first-ever multi-chapter fanfic, many years ago. If you wish to see how this story might unfold, I invite you to read "Snake Pit", my sequel to "Graduation Speech", which will go up on this site shortly. ^^ – Dime


End file.
